Andre Massena

Jean-Andre Massena (6 May 1758-4 April 1817) was one of Napoleon's eighteen Marshals of the French Empire. He was called "the Dear Child of Victory", and served with distinction during Napoleon's Italian Campaign.

Biography
Born a Sardinian, he joined the navy in 1772 and was a cabin boy aboard a merchant ship. In 1791 he rejoined the army after a short tour of duty in the Royal Italian Regiment and rose to the rank of Colonel by 1792. He was made commandant of the base of Nice in Alpes-Maritimes, and served in a series of battles from 1794 until 1797 in Italy along with a rising Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1799 he was deployed to Switzerland and defeated the Russians at the Second Battle of Zurich and again at St. Gotthard Pass, where he held off Aleksandr Suvorov's Russian army.

Afterwards, Massena was made commander of forces in Italy but was later dismissed by Napoleon. In 1804 he was made a Marshal and was invited to rejoin Napoleon's ranks and defeated the Austrians at Caldiero in October 1805. He would not see service until the Fifth Coalition in 1809, heroically defending Aspern from the Austrians in the Battle of Aspern-Essling. In 1810 he served in the Peninsular War, where he achieved little success, and was replaced by Auguste Marmont in 1811.